A Purple Heart Warrior Takes Aim At Military Inequality In ‘Shoot Like A Girl’

In 2009, Maj. Mary Jennings Hegar was shot down by the Taliban in Afghanistan while co-piloting an Air National Guard medevac helicopter. Though she was wounded in her rifle arm, Hegar managed to return fire while hanging onto a moving helicopter, which saved the lives of her crew and her patients.

At the time, the Department of Defense allowed female soldiers to participate in air combat, but forbade women from ground combat positions. Hegar tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross that the rule was often circumvented, which meant that women who served on the ground did not receive credit for combat duty.

Get IAM MOBILE 4.0

IAM Mobile 4.0 offers more features and functions to read and share information about our union and the important issues we face as working families. This app combines all of the IAM's popular online functions such as the IAM Journal, the Machinists News Network on demand video service, the IAM webpage GOiam.org, iMail, an IAM Photo Gallery, the IAM Facebook Page, and lots more -- all in one easy-to-access App for tablets and smartphones.

Union Member Rights and Officer Responsibilities Under the LMRDA The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) guarantees certain rights to union members and imposes certain responsibilities on union officers.